Amazon to join Google and Facebook in Virtual Reality World

The fool.com is reporting that Amazon is building its own VR Platform based on a recent job posting, and the e-commerce giant is planning to follow Facebook and Google’s lead into VR.

Amazon recently revealed with a job posting that it is assembling a VR team to build a “virtual reality experience within Amazon Video.” In the posting on Glassdoor, Amazon declares that the team will create a new “platform and interface for immersive storytelling.”

Why is Amazon interested in VR? Tech M&A advisory firm Digi-Capital estimates that the VR market will grow from nearly nothing today to $30 billion by 2020. It expects most of that growth to be fueled by sales of VR hardware, games, movies, and experiences.

Amazon is already invested in games and movies through its Kindle, Fire TV, and the Amazon Instant Video service, so it would be logical to enhance those offerings with VR experiences. Amazon could initially launch a cheaper smartphone-based VR headset similar to Google Cardboard or Samsung’s Gear VR, which would be in line with its low pricing strategy for the Kindle and Fire TV. An Amazon VR headset could tether more users to Prime, which already offers its subscribers free streaming shows and movies.